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Amazon.co.uk Review
This entry in Hammer's long-running vampire series is certainly a scraping from the bottom of the dog-dish. We begin in Europe where a tomb is discovered which proves to contain the undead corpse of one of Dracula's servants and, er..., his equally undead dog. Revived, the pair set about tracking down their rightful master, the last of the Dracula line. Unfortunately, the latter turns out to be a very ordinary American family man who bears no trace of his vampiric lineage, least of all a desire to drink blood. It then falls to Zoltan (an admittedly well-trained mutt with a coating of silver paint) and his master (played by the splendidly cadaverous Reggie Nalder, who probably looked undead even on his days off) to try and re-infect the bloodline with vampirism, while pursued by a vampire-savvy detective played by the avuncular Jose Ferrer. It turns out that the best chance to do this is on a family camping trip where Zoltan gets to bite a bunch of other dogs, too. Although Stephen King's Cujo later proved that you really can do scary doggie movies, this attempt to extend the vampire franchise is one for completists only. --Roger Thomas
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A group of Russian soldiers accidently unearth the underground tomb of one of the Dracula's. A guard ressurects Dracula's faithful hound Zoltan, who after mauling the guard, in turn resurrects his master Veidt Schmidt(Reggie Nalder). Schmidt and faithful Zoltan have to find the last descendant of the Dracula line, who has emigrated to America, and is living under the name of Michael Drake(Michael Pataki).
They are pursued by dogged(!) Inspector Branco(Jose Ferrer) who knows a thing or two about vampire slaying, and Drake's true identity. However, by the time Branco finds Drake to warn him, Zoltan's been very busy converting the local four legged population into canine corpses ready to do his evil bidding. Does every dog have its day, or will Zoltan triumph?
For people of a certain age(old farts in other words) this film was a regular treat on late night television in the 1980's. Thanks to the current crop of T.V schedulers preferring to put on all-night bingo on instead of great films like this, this Optimum release is very welcome. Its a very enjoyable film, despite its silly plot, and probably benefits because everybody plays it straight. The cast all do well, but the dogs steal the show. Theres also an incredible schizophrenic music score, changing musical genres in the blink of an eye. From sinister synths, to moody moog, to happy lounge music and back again.
The DVD release is a bit dissapointing, as I was hoping for a commentary from the dog that played Zoltan at least. 4 out of 5
They are pursued by dogged(!) Inspector Branco(Jose Ferrer) who knows a thing or two about vampire slaying, and Drake's true identity. However, by the time Branco finds Drake to warn him, Zoltan's been very busy converting the local four legged population into canine corpses ready to do his evil bidding. Does every dog have its day, or will Zoltan triumph?
For people of a certain age(old farts in other words) this film was a regular treat on late night television in the 1980's. Thanks to the current crop of T.V schedulers preferring to put on all-night bingo on instead of great films like this, this Optimum release is very welcome. Its a very enjoyable film, despite its silly plot, and probably benefits because everybody plays it straight. The cast all do well, but the dogs steal the show. Theres also an incredible schizophrenic music score, changing musical genres in the blink of an eye. From sinister synths, to moody moog, to happy lounge music and back again.
The DVD release is a bit dissapointing, as I was hoping for a commentary from the dog that played Zoltan at least. 4 out of 5
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A silly sounding premise maybe. Dracula's vampiric dog (doberman?) Zoltan is resurrected by East European soldiers blowing up the countryside. Zoltan in turn revives his original master (Dracula's assistant, Veidt, who was the original owner of Zoltan before both were co-opted into the un-dead clan) whereby they leave for America to track down the last remaining descendant of Dracula in order to turn him into a vampire so that he can then be master to them both. Veidt is only half a vampire so can function during the day; he doesn't speak but communicates with Zoltan telepathically; whereas Zoltan is a fully fledged vampire dog so needs to get back to his coffin before sunrise!
It is very enjoyable and not just in a hokey kind of way. The scenes with Zoltan in are incredibly impressive. From him pulling the stake out of his ex-masters body to sinking his teeth into other dogs necks. The dogs stand there mesmerised before then flopping to the ground only to rise again as vampiric hounds themselves. Impressively done.
Anyway the 'Dracula' family, now known as Michael Drake et al, go on holiday to the remote lakes (wife, 2 children, 2 alsations and 1 or 2 pups) followed by Veidt and Zoltan in their hearse (this film is not subtle) There are a few others camped about and pretty soon Zoltan has a small band of ex-pets who are vampires likewise. Cue a couple of impressive set pieces of dogs attacking a shack, car, bystanders etc.
Helpfully there's a man who knows exactly what is going on and is happy to explain it all to the bemused Mr Drake. He is an 'Inspector' from 'the old country' who is some kind of vampire expert and has followed Zoltan over the ocean to help exterminate the evil ones.
There's only one minor gory bit, the dog(s) are easily the stars of this film with their silvery gloss, vampire fangs and glowing eyes although special mention must go to the bat in one of the flashback scenes (Drac himself in bat form) who landed on Zoltan's neck and infected him. I don't know how they managed to do that, very clever.
Another fun 70's film. I don't nostalgically view every film I enjoyed back then in a positive light but this one I did. No doubt this is the sort of film that will ellicit responses such as 'this is the worst film I've ever seen...' so maybe stay clear if bloodbath soaked torture fests are your thing.
I found it interesting that the East European country despite referred to a lot in the film was not ever named, although on the box description it says Romania whereas on the Amazon blurb it says Russia (they all spoke with American accents) The chap who played Veidt (Reggie Nalder) looked suitably decrepit but sadly it appears he had suffered burns to the lower third of his face, including mouth, which led him into these type of sinister roles.
To summarise, good, enjoyable stuff with a nice little conclusion.
It is very enjoyable and not just in a hokey kind of way. The scenes with Zoltan in are incredibly impressive. From him pulling the stake out of his ex-masters body to sinking his teeth into other dogs necks. The dogs stand there mesmerised before then flopping to the ground only to rise again as vampiric hounds themselves. Impressively done.
Anyway the 'Dracula' family, now known as Michael Drake et al, go on holiday to the remote lakes (wife, 2 children, 2 alsations and 1 or 2 pups) followed by Veidt and Zoltan in their hearse (this film is not subtle) There are a few others camped about and pretty soon Zoltan has a small band of ex-pets who are vampires likewise. Cue a couple of impressive set pieces of dogs attacking a shack, car, bystanders etc.
Helpfully there's a man who knows exactly what is going on and is happy to explain it all to the bemused Mr Drake. He is an 'Inspector' from 'the old country' who is some kind of vampire expert and has followed Zoltan over the ocean to help exterminate the evil ones.
There's only one minor gory bit, the dog(s) are easily the stars of this film with their silvery gloss, vampire fangs and glowing eyes although special mention must go to the bat in one of the flashback scenes (Drac himself in bat form) who landed on Zoltan's neck and infected him. I don't know how they managed to do that, very clever.
Another fun 70's film. I don't nostalgically view every film I enjoyed back then in a positive light but this one I did. No doubt this is the sort of film that will ellicit responses such as 'this is the worst film I've ever seen...' so maybe stay clear if bloodbath soaked torture fests are your thing.
I found it interesting that the East European country despite referred to a lot in the film was not ever named, although on the box description it says Romania whereas on the Amazon blurb it says Russia (they all spoke with American accents) The chap who played Veidt (Reggie Nalder) looked suitably decrepit but sadly it appears he had suffered burns to the lower third of his face, including mouth, which led him into these type of sinister roles.
To summarise, good, enjoyable stuff with a nice little conclusion.
Format:DVD
First saw this movie when I was 10 and i can honestly say it made a big impression. That and the fact I had only watched british horror movies up to that point, I should point out to Amazon that this is Not a Hammer film, might be an idea to watch the film again...well just a thought. Look out for Reggie Nalder as Zoltans undead handler, just looking at his face is worth the cost of this dvd! Also Jose Ferrer as Inspector Branco this movies Van Helsing clone is again worthy of 90 minutes of your time. Have fun !
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The bitter end
Made 20 years after the first vampire film produced by hammer, zoltan hound of dracula was a real sign that hammers vampire series of films had run their course, i have watched... Read more
Published 3 months ago by PD
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This film terrified the living daylights out of me when I was a kid. After seeing it, I couldn't sleep. It was a hot summer's night and my bedroom window was open. Read more
Published on 3 Aug 2009 by John Wilfers
Who let the vampire dogs out?
Ah, those Communists; it's all their fault, you know. In Zoltan, Hound of Dracula, the forces of Communism unleash a mean, lean, killing machine in the form of a huge, fanged... Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2004 by Daniel Jolley
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